Philippines Wins A Medal!!!

It hasn’t been a successful Olympics thus far for the Philippines. Admittedly, Filipinos across the globe don’t have much to cheer for, but that feeling is over — THE PHILIPPINES WON A MEDAL! YEHEY!!!!

Natalie Coughlin: "Hi Lola!!!"

You probably think this is a joke artcle, but we’re not kidding. Read on.

WHAT? I didn’t say “Philippines wins an OLYMPIC medal”, did I? OK, OK. That was cheap. How about this:

A bird’s nest cake in gum paste and fruitcake by top Manila-based cake artists Penk Ching and Shen Chen of Pastry Bin made its global debut last Aug. 7 at the pre-opening ceremony cocktails organized by Coca Cola China for the Beijing 2008 Olympics and won both raves and awards. YEHESSS! We make the BEST cakes at the Beijing Games!!!

WHAT? You wanted Philippines Olympic news, but you didn’t say it HAD to be in an ATHLETIC event. Hmm. How about this:

image courtesy of Speedo

US swimmer Natalie Coughlin helped take her team to Gold in the women’s 4x100m relay on Sunday, which makes it her US record sixth Beijing Olympic medal. You might be asking, “why is this relevant?” and “what happened to Philippines winning that medal?”

If you watched any of Coughlin’s races closely, you may have noticed the NBC cameras focus on someone in the audience that looks like your Tita Zenny. That’s because Coughlin’s mom could BE your Tita Zenny. Natalie is partly of Filipino ancestry. Her mom Zenny is a constant fixture at her swim meets (and I bet you she makes the whole swim team try some cassava cake). Her grandmother, Zenaida Bohn, hails from Meycauayan, Bulacan, making her mom 1/2 and Natalie 1/4 Filipino, respectively.

In fact, word was that the Philippines was courting Coughlin to represent the Motherland in these Beijing Games. Obviously she didn’t choose to do that – but that’s OK – she’s still Pinay… and she still won an Olympic Medal!